Finally the school yard bully got his lunch money taken and his sneakers pulled off of him. After all of these years somebody has stood up to the NCAA and it’s foolishness. Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, signed into law the “Fair Pay to Play Act,” which says colleges in the state of California cannot punish their athletes for collecting endorsement money. In other words, student athletes can make bread off of their names. Something that the universities have been doing for decades.
In a tweet on Monday Gov. Newsom tweeted this after signing the bill into law:
Colleges reap billions from student athletes but block them from earning a single dollar. That’s a bankrupt model.
I just signed the Fair Play to Pay Act with @KingJames — making CA the first state to allow student athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness. pic.twitter.com/aWE9OL9r1v
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 30, 2019
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! It’s about time! Hopefully other states will follow very soon. It’s ridiculous how these schools sucker punch high profile kids into coming to their respective universities, stick them into a class that’s already been paid for by the rest of the student body and then will use their image to make additional money.
For those that don’t understand the hustle let me put it where the goats can get it. Not only are the high profile athletes helping to make the school millions in ticket sales, TV revenue and merchandising. The NCAA, has in the past, punished the student-athlete for selling his own jersey, shoes or autographs. Let me repeat that. The school could sell the kids jersey on the side but the student athlete couldn’t sell his own stuff and keep the money.
Remember when Johnny Football for was at Texas A&M selling his own autograph after winning the Heisman? The NCAA was on the hunt trying to jam him up but ole boy was too slick for them. Remember when the kids at Ohio State were trading their pants and bowl jerseys for tattoos and the NCAA jammed the Buckeyes up?
Now in the state of California student-athletes can make their own money off of their names. Now that California has jumped into the pool the rest of the country will hopefully do the same. Can you imagine how much bread cats like the Fab Five would have made while at the University of Michigan off of their likeness? It would have been NUTS!!! We don’t have to go that far back. What if this law was in effect in the state of North Carolina this year with Zion Williamson at Duke. Oh My God!!! He would have made the $100 million off of the Nike shoe deal a year earlier. That’s crazy and he would deserve every penny of it.
Remember the popularity of the University of Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma, Oklahoma’s Jamelle Holieway, Charles Thompson, Brian Bosworth, Adrian Peterson? What about the Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV with Larry Johnson and Co. The whole USC run with Reggie Bush, Lendale White and Matt Leinart? They would have made a fortune had this law been in effect then.
I think that it’s a great thing because not everybody’s going to make it to the NFL or NBA and have a long professional career. Some of these cats never even sniffed a professional contract and the university milked them dry before they were used up. Jamelle Holieway nor Charles Thomson went to the league. Jimmy King and Ray Jackson were apart of the Fab Five that made Michigan a fortune but they never played in he NBA. They could have at least made their bread in college but the NCAA made it all for them and didn’t give them a dime. I’m just sayin’!
It’s about time somebody stood up to the bully and fought back. Thanks Gov. Gavin Newsom for finally being progressive enough to make a difference at the collegiate level. Stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus:
1) Put it where the goats can get it: verb phrase – to make it as elementary as possible. To put it at ground level so everyone can understand it.
